


Hacked

by canterofmysinnings



Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [18]
Category: Take That
Genre: Black Mirror References, Canon Take That, Cuddling & Snuggling, Disturbing art, Hacking, Horror Gifs, Locked Out of Twitter, M/M, Netflix and Chill, Pet Names, Romantic Fluff, Social media suspense, The Office References, Weird links, current time, married with children - Freeform, suspense with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canterofmysinnings/pseuds/canterofmysinnings
Summary: Gary is enjoying a cosy time off watching Netflix with his husband Robbie. As they have a break from the series they're watching because Robbie refills snacks, Gary tries to get access to his social media but is disheartened to find out that... He can't. Why is this and what has happened?
Relationships: Gary Barlow/Robbie Williams
Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926196
Kudos: 2





	Hacked

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 18 of my Transfer from Wattpad series, as well as my year-long Barlliams Songfic challenge.  
> Originally published at: 03/07/2018  
> Originally inspired by the song: Grace

Los Angeles, July 2018 (current time)

Robbie and Gary were settled, cuddling on the sofa. After a long day in the studio, they were more than thrilled to spend some time bonding over a TV show on Netflix. Tonight's choice was another episode or three of _Black Mirror._  
They had blankets and snacks by their side as they started watching on their flat-screen TV.   
The house was strangely quiet now that the kids had gone away to Robbie's sister for a night to provide the two showbusiness gentlemen a break.   
Gary felt warm and fuzzy underneath the blanket as he cuddled into Robbie. He was wearing black sweatpants and a X-men t-shirt. Robbie was wearing a white tank top and his tiger undies, as well as tennis socks.  
Robbie pressed play and wrapped his arm around Gary as they resumed where they left off last time.

_"You're just a few ripples to you, there is no history to you."_

Gary shuddered at the intensity of the scene. A girl and a boy, a brunette in a blue rain coat and a ginger man in a dark green coat talked to each other on a plateau by the water on a grey day.   
"Oh God." Robbie breathed." This is so intense."  
"I feel it too." Gary said, almost forgetting to breathe.

_"I'm frightened, darling... Please..."_

"No way!" Gary whispered. "I just want you to make up again..."  
"Are you okay, Gaz?" Robbie asked as the smaller blonde as he seemed emotionally affected.   
"Not really... This is terrifying." Gary muttered as he took a deep breath in.

_"Hang on, that's a very difficult sentence to process."_

Robbie pressed pause. "Then we're not watching anymore. Let's watch something else."  
"The Office?" Gary suggested eagerly.   
"Great idea." Robbie reached out for the remote and pressed a gentle kiss to Gary's lips, which made Gary's insides flutter. He was okay again.

After watching some time, they decided to take a break. They had roared of laughter and awww'ed at the sweet moments whist enjoying the delicious snacks, and now the atmosphere was getting a little dull as both men could sense that it was nearly bedtime.   
"We just finish this one, shall we?" Robbie looked at Gary, the light of his life with a loving glance.   
"Good idea. But I'm feeling a bit knackered, me."   
Robbie kissed Gary's temple. "I'm gonna get us some healthy refills to make up for the sinning we've done, eh?"   
Gary chuckled and blew a kiss at Robbie as Robbie carried the bowls into the kitchen.

Rubbing his eyes, Gary pulled out his phone and unlocked it.   
The password to his phone, which he didn't use all that much, was swiping an R on the 3x3 pattern lock. He smiled at his lock screen. It depicted him and Robbie at the Russia World Cup 2018 approximately two weeks ago.   
He felt like going on Twitter and mindlessly scroll through the updates his fans had tweeted. He was mentally preparing himself for the hundreds of notifications that he would receive on Twitter.   
However, when he opened the app, he was greeted only by a blue and white log in screen.   
Gary furrowed his eyebrows as he squinted at the screen. _Didn't he have Remember me on?_  
Writing it off as a forgetful error, he typed his username and password and pressed log in.   
Nothing happened except for one small string of red text appeared. _Wrong password. Weird. Maybe I got something wrong first time._  
Not too bothered, he typed everything in again extra carefully. As he pressed log in though, he couldn't help but feel a little bit jittery at the thought of finally getting into Twitter.   
Second time around, nothing. He still couldn't access his Twitter account. Now, Gary was grewing nervous about the situation. _Was he compromised?_

Just to be completely sure, he tried a third time. Still no luck.   
Robbie was back by now and was just about to sit down next to Gary as Gary called out to him. "Babe..."  
Robbie sensed his husband's discomfort and looked down onto Gary's hands where the phone rested. "What's that, love? Is everything okay?"   
Gary shook his head as he handed the taller man his phone. "I don't know. I'm unable to log into Twitter. Maybe you should try?"   
Robbie looked at Gary's log in screen and sure, it did say 'Wrong password'.   
"Are you sure you didn't just forget it?" Robbie asked Gary with a wary glance.   
"I'm sure. Someone must have changed it without me knowing."  
"A'ight love, hold on. I'm logging in now." Robbie wrapped an arm tightly around his husband as he typed these words he knew by heart to log into Gary's profile.   
He frowned as his try didn't have any success either. After four tries, it dawned upon Gary that this could not be a simple forgetting matter.   
Someone must have had comprised his account.   
"Gaz, don't worry. It'll be alright, okay? I'll go call Markie to see if the hacker has done anything on your account yet."  
Gary's chest moved up and down rapidly from the stress as Robbie found Gary in Robbie's contacts. He was amused to find that Gary had placed a dolphin next to Mark's name.   
In fact, all the contact names were amusing.

_Rob 💍👑_   
_Markie 🐬_   
_Howard 💩_   
_Jason (Nokia)_   
_Mum Marj_   
_Dad_   
_Tommy ⚽_

He quickly regained focus as he saw Gary's concerned face.   
"I love you." Robbie assured Gary as he called Mark.

_Calling Markie 🐬..._

"Hello Gary! What a nice surprise!" Mark beamed. Robbie looked at Gary. If only Mark knew.   
"Hi, it's Rob. We need a favour from you. In fact, can we go on video?"  
"Sure." Mark said and turned on his video, to which Robbie followed suit. "So what's that favour you need, mate?" He asked.   
Robbie signed and tilted the camera slightly in Gary's direction. Gary stress fidgeted with a very displeased expression.   
"We reckon Gary's Twitter has been compromised. So we need you to check out if the hacker has written anything or made themselves visible."  
Mark was clearly taken aback as he gasped. "No way! Oh no Gary, I'm so sorry. Hold on, I have my iPad handy. Alright... Apologies, been a while since I've last been on Twitter..." Mark trailed off as he focused on logging into his own account which he wasn't that used to.   
Robbie made eye contact with Gary, who was getting more affected by the second, clutching the blanket to the point of the surrounding skin lighting up white from pressure.   
"I love you so much Captain. I assure you that we will catch that silly sadlife in no time at all."  
Robbie pressed Gary's free hand firmly and didn't let go. Gary rested his head against the back of the sofa.   
Mark broke it silence. "I'm in now guys, now let's see... Gary... There you are, mate... Hmmm..." Mark investigated the account as he scrolled down.   
Gary and Robbie were both breathing rapidly. Robbie felt everything that Gary felt, if not ten times as intense.   
"The hacker has not made themselves known. Nothing has changed since you last posted something. But I can tell something is going on - perhaps the hacker is in your private messages. Fans are getting pretty unsettled in the comments of your latest video."  
"Damn it!" Gary bluntly sweared. He was getting pale now, panicking.   
Mark picked up on this.   
"Look, Gary, I'm sorry if I unsettle you. But fact is that the hacker can tweet something at any given moment which can damage your reputation. In fact, they might already be doing it. The sooner we do something, the better."

Robbie's phone, who was on the sofa table in front of the table, started to ring in the tune of ' _Heart and I' ._  
Robbie softly slipped Gary's phone back into Gary's hand as he picked up the call, which was his authoritative contact from Polydor Records.   
"Hello. Robbie Williams." He spoke into his phone, looking at Gary who was quietly chatting to Mark. The stress was getting to him, he noticed.   
Robbie intertwined his and Gary's fingers tightly as support.   
"Hello Robbie. It's Dani from Polydor. I'm calling on behalf of your husband Gary. Our team has noticed suspicious activity from his official account."  
Robbie sighed audibly. "What kind of suspicious activity?"   
He looked at Gary who had snuggled into the blanket more now, feeling a little comforted as he tried to access Instagram and Facebook.   
"Direct message bogus. More accurately, fans have been receiving weird code and bit.ly links to disturbing GIFs."  
Robbie gulped as he was filled with anger. _Who was this crackhead messing with his husband? What had Gary ever done to deserve this?_

"Do you have control over the situation, or do we need to intervene?" Dani asked Robbie. It was evident that she was worried for Gary and his reputation.   
Robbie shook his head. "No, we will do anything to restore the accounts, ourselves. In fact, we know that Gary's brother Ian knows IT. We are going to call him now."  
"Good luck." Dani said and hung up.

Mark had successfully talked Gary into a better mood as he seemed to have at least a little more peace of mind.   
"What's up, Captain?" Robbie asked and kissed Gary's free hand.   
"Not much. I can't get access to Instagram or Facebook. But Mark has talked me down. I believe things might not be as bad as they seem to be."  
"That's the spirit. Have you hung up Mark?"   
Gary nodded. "Yes, he had to go. But I've been talking to my brother Ian. He happens to be in LA this weekend, can you believe that? He says he's coming over. Hopefully we can sort this out before the hacker starts to post satanic images or something." Gary joked.   
Robbie embraced him and they ate some snacks whist waiting for Ian to arrive.

**A while later**

"Hi Gary, hi Robbie." Ian greeted them. "So you say there's been a hacker?" He had just been around the kitchen fetching himself a beer, as Robbie insisted Ian made himself feel at home.   
"Yes, a hacker has locked me out of all my social media." Gary confirmed.   
Ian took a sip of his beer as he booted his loyal Lenovo laptop.   
"I've dealt with a few hacker cases before. Nothing as serious, but I still have the experience. Let's see...."  
Ian prepared for some investigation into Gary's hacker as he typed Gary's handle into all his social media.   
As he looked at Facebook, he inhaled deeply. "Jesus, this doesn't look good. Your fans are leaving sheer angry and sad reactions to the... Art... The hacker left."

"Art?" Gary asked, alarmed again. Robbie restrained Gary from getting up from the sofa and overreacting.   
"Yes. Satanic artwork, but still art. What a sight. It's terrifying."  
Robbie felt anger rush through his veins another time. "Well, why do you just sit there? Do something already!" He complained.   
"I'm going to now, don't worry!" Ian insisted. "Go post a PSA for your fans, will you? The more they freak out, the bigger the damage."  
Robbie had no choice than to trust Ian as he pulled out his phone once more and opened Instagram. With slightly shaking hands, he ran a hand through his hair as he put the camera setting on Video.

_" Hi everybody, it's Rob. My husband Gary has been hacked and all his social media has been compromised. Please do not interact with any of his accounts until we have solved it, okay? Love you always, Friendlies."_

After recording the video, he added text too so people could screenshot and spread the word.   
Looking for Gary on the sofa, he realised that the blonde had dozed off adorably under the blanket. All this stress had made him sleepy to the point of him falling asleep.  
This prompted him to softly take Gary in his arms and move his position on the sofa, so that Gary's head was in the opposite direction as before. He lovingly covered Gary in the blanket as he sat down next to his head and pulled Gary into his lap, so Gary could have a comfortable pillow.  
Ian sat across from Robbie in a chair. Robbie could still see what Ian was doing, and he was curious.   
"What are you doing, Ian?" Robbie asked in a low voice, not to wake up his husband.   
"I'm trying to get into Gary's spare Gmail, so that I can regain access to the main e-mail, which of course has been compromised. But I don't know the password - would you be so kind to provide it? If it doesn't take too much fuss - I see he has fallen asleep on you!" Ian laughed.   
Robbie thought about it, and he recognised the password to the mail.   
"It's 123RobbieIsAWanker321 - He made it one evening I stole a chip from him - ONE! Can you believe this guy?" Robbie laughed, still careful to be quiet.   
"Wow." Ian smiled as he proceeded to log into the account. A few seconds later and BINGO - the key to reclaim Gary's email and take control over everything again.   
He took out his own phone as he explained quietly to Robbie what he was going to do.   
"I'm going to request a forgot password for Gary's account using this email. The hacker couldn't get into this one because it has a strong password. When I'm in, I'll enable two-factor authentification, and bingo - hacker gets thrown off!" Ian cheered.   
Robbie sat back and watched as Ian let his fingers run back and forth on the laptop keys like a keyboard wizard.   
"What's two-factor authentifi...?" Robbie asked, confused.  
Ian smiled. "Two factor authentification is when you connect your phone to your password, so when someone logs in they have to type a sequence of numbers that only appears on your phone - so no phone, no access."  
"That's smart." Robbie grinned.   
A couple of minutes later, Ian cheered.   
"I'm in!" He said. "I do have this pop up saying suspicious activity, so that's something I'm take care of. As well as all these mails going like 'Unusual login', they are signs too that we need to check out."  
Robbie kept quiet as he had nothing to add. He just held Gary in his arms, cuddling him and watching him sleep peacefully.

Flash forward ten minutes, and Ian had successfully regained control of all Gary's social media on Gary's behalf.   
He showed Robbie the evidence he'd screenshot and since deleted from the public eye.   
"See, the hacker accidentally revealed herself! This is brilliant for us. What an amateur!" Ian laughed.   
Robbie nodded. He still couldn't quite believe everything that had just happened and that it all was over.   
"I reckon it's up to Gary now to do it the rest, as it's his account." He chipped in.   
Ian nodded. "I've done my job. Thank you for letting me know. Who knows what might have happened if you didn't reach out to me."  
Robbie pressed Ian's hand. "No, thank you for rescuing us all. Why don't you stay for dinner and footie? I feel we owe you!"   
Ian shrugged happily. "I have no plans, so I'm down to stay!" He beamed.   
Ian cleaned up after himself and Robbie filmed another PSA to let everyone know that things were alright again.

In the same moment as he pressed send, Gary awoke from his slumber.   
"What did I miss?" He exclaimed. "Is the hacker gone?!"   
Robbie nodded and pointed at Ian's laptop which still was turned on and showed the folder of evidence Ian had collected.   
"Completely. But we have loads of evidence, even enough to press charges. Everything is okay again, Captain. It really is." Robbie assured his husband.   
"Oh, how good." Robbie groaned as he got up from the sofa and walked to Robbie. He wrapped his arms around Robbie's hips as he leant in close.   
"What's for dinner?" Gary smirked.   
"Turkey and vegs, I reckon. Ian's staying over. He helped us out getting your accounts back again."  
"Brilliant." Gary purred, content as he pressed a warm, lingering kiss to Robbie's lips and felt Robbie's hands wrap around him, too.


End file.
